TOM TAT doc MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG HÀ THỊ HOÀI THANH AN INVESTIGATION INTO METONYMY USED IN TRUYEN KIEU BY NGUYEN DU AND ITS TRANSLATIONAL VERSIONS IN ENGLISH BY H[.]
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG HÀ THỊ HOÀI THANH AN INVESTIGATION INTO METONYMY USED IN TRUYEN KIEU BY NGUYEN DU AND ITS TRANSLATIONAL VERSIONS IN ENGLISH BY HUYNH SANH THONG AND MICHAEL CONCELL Field: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Code: 60.22.15 M.A THESIS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES (A SUMMARY) Danang - 2014 The thesis has been completed at the College of Foreign Languages, The University of Danang Supervisor : Assocs Prof Dr PHAN VĂN HOÀ Examiner 1: Nguyễn Thị Quỳnh Hoa, Ph.D Examiner 2: Nguyễn Tất Thắng, Ph.D The thesis was orally defended at the Examining Board at the University of Da Nang Time : 14th, June, 2014 Venue: The University of Danang The original of the thesis is accessible for purpose of reference at: - The College of Foreign Languages Library, The University of Danang - The Information Resources Centre, The University of Danang CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE In the process of globalization, language barrier seems to be one of the greatest thingspreventing people from getting to know each other In the meantime, the need for interaction is rapidly increasing with the aim of making up close relationships to exchange experience, information and cooperate in economy, science, technology and education Truyen Kieu is undoubtedly one of the most famous works of Nguyen Du, one of the greatest authors in Viet Nam It has been well-known all over the world for its plot, episodes and original expressions and it comes as no surprise that it has been translated into different languages such as English, German, Chinese, Japanese, Polish and so on There is a fact that Vietnamese learners of English and foreigners learning Vietnamese find it difficult to grasp Truyen Kieu’s ideas and moods through metonymic expressions Therefore, understanding metonymy mechanism will help a lot in dealing with the experience, interpretation and evaluation of Truyen Kieu All these have aroused my interest in researching the topic “ An Investigation into Metonymy Used in Truyen Kieu by Nguyen Du and Its Translational Versions in English by Huynh Sanh Thong and Michael Counsell 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.2.1 Aims The study is aimed at examining metonymic expressions in Truyen Kieu and how they are translated into English by Huynh Sanh Thong and Michael Counsell 1.2.2 Objectives This study is intended: - To identify and to describe the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features of metonymic expressions in Truyen Kieu - To examine how these expressions are translated into English - To suggest some possible solutions for the understanding, interpretation and translation of metonymic expressions 1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY This study provides teachers and learners of English a thorough point of view towards metonymy in Truyen Kieu by Nguyen Du and how they are translated into English by Huynh Sanh Thong and Michael Counsell 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY This study will observe and describe some commonly-used types of means for expressing metonymies in in Truyen Kieu and its two translational versions 1.5 RESEARCH QUESIONS This research questions tries to find out the answers to the following questions What are the commonly-used types of metonymic expressions in Truyen Kieu and its two translational versions ? What are the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features of metonymic expressions in Truyen Kieu? How are these expressions translated into English by Michael Counsell and Huynh Sanh Thong ? What is the implication of the study for the teaching, learning and translating of metonymy from Vietnamese to English? 1.6 ORGANIZATION OF STUDY Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Theoretical background Chapter 3: Research design and methodology Chapter 4: Findings and Discussions Chapter 5: Conclusion CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES Metonymy was first described in cognitive terms by Lakoff and Johnson [23] as a process which allows us to conceptualize one thing by means of its relation to others Metonymy is not a linguistic object, but a conceptual or cognitive organization expressed by a linguistic object Kovecses and Radden [21] pointed out the conceptual basis of metonymy with the term “ conceptual frame” or “ Idealized Conceptual Models” Each metonymic mapping has its own highlevel principles that shape its mechanism This view point was developed by Mendoza and Diez [27] who clarify them term of lowlevel and high-level metonymy Trần Xuân Trưởng[54] had also investigated metonymy in his master thesis at Danang University In his thesis, he studied and constrasted metonymy denoting humans in English and Vietnamese poetry However, he limited his scope of study in only metonymy denoting humans in English and Vietnamese poetry Võ Thị Thu Duyên [55] studied and contrasted the use of metonymy in both English and Vietnamese However, she paid no attention to the translation of metonymic expressions 2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.2.1 Theory of metonymy a Definition of metonymy Lakoff and Johnson [23] were among the first cognitive linguists concerned with metaphor and metonymy They defined metonymy as the use of one entity to stand for another which is related to it In their view, metonymy has a primarily referential function, but it also contributes to understanding Radden and Kovecses [33] adopt the view that metonymy is a cognitive process in which one conceptual entity, the vehicle, provides mental access to another conceptual entity, the target, within the same idealized cognitive model In fact they adapt Langacker’s notion of “ reference point” to the notion of metonymy Our working definition is based on the definition of metonymy proposed by Kovecses and Radden [33] as the followings: Metonymy is a cognitive process in which one conceptual entity, the vehicle, provides mental accesss to another conceptual entity, the target, within the same domain, or ICM b Figure of speech Metonymy was traditionally regarded as a figure of speech, so an account of figures of speech is indispensable in our study c Metonymy as a Referential Phenomenon Metonymy involves only one conceptual domain ( mapping occurs within a single domain, not across domains) and is used primarily for reference Via metonymy, one can refer to one entity in a schema by referring to another entity in the same schema d Metonymy in Cognitive Linguistics Cognitive linguistics has dealt in depth with conceptual metaphor more than two decades, but has only recently started to pay attention to conceptual metonymy e Metonymy in Poetry The literary technique known as metonymy is most often used in poetry to draw attention to a word or idea by slightly changing the diction that the poet uses A slight change in word choice can cause big changes in the way that the reader perceives a concept within a poem f Metonymy Versus Other Ways Of Meaning Transference f1 Metonymy versus Metaphor Metonymy works by the contiguity ( association) between two concepts whereas metaphor works by the similarity between them f2 Metonymy versus Synecdoche Metonymy and synecdoche are similar figures of speech used in rhetoric Some theorists identify synecdoche as a separate trope, where a specific part of sonething is taken to refer to the whole, is usually understood as a specific kind of metonymy 2.2.2 Theory of Translation a Definition of translation According to Catford,J.C [8], translation is not a dangerous technique in itself provided its nature is understood, and its use is carefully controlled and translation is in itself a valuable skill to be imparted to student Nguyễn Hồng Cổn [48] states that the activity of translation is still a language activity and language plays core and basic roles However, he says that together with the attention to linguistic problem, translators also need to pay attention to the problems relating to source language and target language such as social environment, culture and religion b Translation methods There are many translation methods Among them, two methods which are used most often are communicative translation and semantic translation (1) Communicative translation: (2) Semantic translation: (3) Word-for-word translation (4) Literal translation c Measuring Success in Translation According to Wikipedia, the evaluation of translation must bebased on two criteria: a) Faithfulness b)Transparency d Literary translation Literary translation is a creative art, similar to performing music, drawing picture Each translation is different, and reflects the sensibilities and style of the translator f Translation equivalence According to J.C Catford [28], there are four types: (1) Linguistic equivalent (2) Paradigmatic equivalent (3) Stylistic (translational) equivalent (4) Textual (syntagmatic) equivalent 2.2.3 Theory of Literature a Language and culture Language is more than just a means of communication It influences our culture and even our thought processes b Rhyme Rhyme is the quality shared by words or syllables that have or end with the same sound as each other, especially when such words or syllables are used at the end of lines of poetry c The Author Nguyễn Du and Truyen Kieu c1 The Author Nguyễn Du ( 1765-1820) c2 Truyen Kieu c3 English Versions of Truyen Kieu 2.3 SUMMARY CHAPTER RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN In this study, Vietnamese is choosen as the first language and English is the second one The main methods of the reasearch are descriptive, unilateral contrastive,quanlitative and quantitative methods 3.2 SAMPLING The sampling was done with selecting and collecting instances of metonymic expressions in Truyen Kieu by Nguyen Du 210 metonymic expressions in the form of noun phrase have been elicited for the study 3.3 DATA COLLECTION The data for analysis are samples taken from Truyen Kieu by Nguyen Du and its translational versions in English by Huynh Sanh Thong and Michael Counsell 3.4 DATA ANALYSIS Data collected are analyzed based on the knowledge of syntax, semantics and pragmatic All these three domains are necessary in understanding and interpreting metonymic expressions in Truyen Kieu 3.5 RESEARCH PROCEDURES 3.6 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY The data is chosen carefully from Truyen Kieu, which is very popular from all over the world We base on the model of ICMs to analyze metonymic expressions in terms of type, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features Therefore, both data and theoretical background are reliable to guarantee the reliability and validity of the research CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 TYPES OF METONYMIC EXPRESSIONS IN TRUYEN KIEU 4.1.1 The Part for the Whole (1) Mây tần khóa kín song the Bụi hồng liệu nẻo chiêm bao Tuần trăng khuyết đĩa dầu hao Mặt tơ tưởng mặt lòng ngao ngán lòng (249-252) 4.1.2 Object Used for User (25) Hài văn lần bước dặm xanh Một vùng thể quỳnh cành dao (143-144) (26) Rồi lạt phấn phai hương, Lòng giữ thường thường chăng? (1337-1338) 10 Table 4.1 Types of metonymic expressions in Truyen Kieu by Nguyen Du Patterns Occurency Body parts for person 141 - Face for person 34 - Eyes for person - Head for person - Hair for person - Ear for person 33 - Mouth for person 10 - Bone for person - Cheeks for person 21 - Other part ( soul, voice, teeth) 18 Place for inhabitants 33 % 65% 16,1% 2,7% 2,7% 4,2% 15,7% 4,7% 1,9% 10% 8,5% 15% Object used for user 14 7% Institution for person 3% Controlled for controller 3% Material for product 2% Containted for container 2% Product for Producer 3% 4.2 THE SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF METONYMIC EXPRESSIONS IN TRUYEN KIEU Metonymic expressions in Truyen Kieu yielded the following types concerning the constituents that come before the head noun as follows: PROPER NAME NOUN NOUN WITH POST-MODIFIERS 11 NOUN + ADJECTIVE NOUN + POSSESSIVE GENITIVE NOUN + VERB NOUN WITH PRE-MODIFIERS QUANTIFIER + NOUN VERB + NOUN QUANTIFIER + ADJECTIVE + NOUN ADJECTIVE +NOUN NOUN WITH PRE-MODIFIERS AND POSTMODIFIERS QUANTIFIER + NOUN + ADJECTIVE COMPOUND NOUN 4.2.2 Syntactic Function of Metonymic Expression as Noun Phrases The metonymic Noun Phrases functioning as Subjects The metonymic Noun Phrases functioning as Direct Objects Table 4.2 Syntactic Functions of Metonymic Noun Phrases in Truyen Kieu Occurrence Function of Metonymic Noun Phrases (210) Frequency Subject 98 46,7 % Direct object 112 53,3% 4.3 SEMANTIC FEATURES OF METONYMIC EXPRESSIONS IN VIETNAMESE POERTRY 4.3.1 The Basic Conceptual Functions of Metonymy Considering the association between the controlled and the controller, we often find that it is convenient to use the thing 12 controlled to refer to the controller as the example below (73) Kiệu hoa cất gió đuốc hồng điểm Kiệu hoa (1466) The person controlling the coach ( Linguistic expression) ( The targeted referent) Kiệu hoa ( the coach itself) Figure 4.1 Controlled-For-Controller Metonymy 4.3.2 The Semantic Mechanism for the Idealized Conceptual Models Icms of Metonymy (79) Lầu xanh lại bỏ phường lầu xanh (1356) Lầu xanh the person living in thebawdyhouse ( Linguistic expression) ( The targeted referent) Lầu xanh( the bawdyhouse itself) Figure 4.2 The representation of the conceptual relation of PlaceFor-Person metonymy 4.3.3 Metonymy as a Referential Phenomenon (81) Rằng năm Gia Tĩnh triều Minh Bốn phương phẳng lặng, hai kinh vững vàng (9-10) In fact, the meaning of “ bốn phương, hai kinh” is shifted from a geographical area to the people living in it 4.3.4 Metonymy as a Polysemous Phenomenon Metonymy plays an important part in the process of meaning elaboration that involves either expansion or reduction Through 13 metonymic process, the meaning of words may extend from a small entity to a larger entity as in part-for-whole relation or vice versa Metonymic expression TAY Table 4.2 Polysemy of “ Tay” Metonymic Examples relation Decision Dẫu tay nguời biết Skill/talent Tay tiên gió táp mưa sa Khoảng dừng bút thảo bốn câu Đánh liều nhắn hai lời nhờ tay tế độ vớt người trầm luân Thân chẳng kẻo mắc tay bợm già Cũng nhà hành viện xưa Cũng phường bán thịt, tay buôn người Phẩm tiên rơi đến tay hèn hồi cơng nắng giữ mưa gìn với Helping Personality Occupation Social status Capability Metonymic expression MẶT Mà chàng Thúc phải người bó tay Punishment Cho người thăm ván bán thuyền biết tay Table 4.3 Polysemy of “ Mặt” Metonymic Examples relation People in general Mặt nhìn mặt thêm tươibên lời vạn phúc bên lời hàn huyên Physical Trướng tô giáp mặt hoa đào appearance Personality Trông lên mặt sắt đen Faithfulness Rồi trở mặt tức 14 Table 4.4 Polysemy of “ Đầu” Metonymic Metonymic Expression Relation Examples People in general Uốn lưng thịt đổ giập đầu ĐẦU máu sa Personality Đầu trâu mặt ngựa ào sôi Age Tuyết suơng nhuốm nửa mái đầu hoa râm 4.3.5 Propositional Metonymies and Situational Metonymies (86) Hồn mang nặng lời thề Nát thân bồ liễu đền nghì trúc mai (745-746) It can be seen that the PART-FOR-WHOLE mapping is obvious with the use of metonymic expression “ my soul” to stand for the body, in other words , the person possessing that soul This is an instance of SOUL-FOR-PERSON mapping within the type source-in-target metonymies where the body can be regarded as a subdomain of “ person” in the target domain (91) Dập dìu tài tử giai nhân Ngựa xe nước áo quần nêm (47-48) We can find a situational metonymy where the striking image “Ngựa xe nước áo quần nêm, a crush of clothes, a rush of wheels and steeds, The crowds divided when each vehicle and horse would pass “ stand for the whole event “There are a lot of people around here” 15 Table 4.5 Source In Target: Part For Whole Type of Example Sourse Target mapping Subdomain Matrix domain FACE FOR mặt làng chơi Person who Dưới trần PERSON possesses the mặt làng chơi face Chơi hoa dễ ngừơi biết hoa EYES FOR nhắm mắt Person who Cũng liều nhắm PERSON possesses the mắt đưa tay eyes Mà xem tạo xoay vần đến đâu CHEEKS Person who Bấy lâu nghe má đào FOR possesses the tiếng má đào PERSON cheeks Mắt xanh chẳng để vào có khơng? HEAD Person who Đầu xanh tội Đầu xanh FOR possesses the tình PERSON head Má hồng đến q nửa chưa thơi HAND Person who Xem gương tay bợm già FOR possesses the nhiêu hand ngày PERSON Thân chẳng kẻo mắc tay bợm già VOICE Person who Sảnh đường tiếng FOR possesses the mảng tiếng đòi PERSON voice lên hầu SOUL FOR hồn Persons who Tơi địi phách PERSON possess the lạc hồn bay soul Pha càn bụi cỏ gốc ẩn 16 BLOOD FOR PERSON máu Person who possesses the blood HAIR FOR PERSON tóc thề Person who possesses the hair BONES FOR PERSON xương Person who possesses the bones FOOT FOR PERSON gót EARS FOR PERSON tai Person who possesses the foot Person who possesses the ears MOUTH FOR PERSON Miệng người Persons who possess the mouths Cạn lời hồn ngất máu say lặng ngắt đôi tay giá đồng Tóc thề chấm ngang vai Nào lời non nước lời sắt son Chị dù thịt nát xương mịn Ngậm cười chín suối cịn thơm lây Sinh dạo gót sân đào bước Nỗi lịng kín chẳng hay, Ngồi tai để mặc gió bay mái Từ nghe vườn thêm hoa Miệng người tin nhà khơng Table 4.6 Target in Source: Place for Person Type of mapping Sourse Matrix domain COUNTRY The FOR country PERSON Target Subdomain People living in the country Example Một hai nghiêng nước nghiêng thành Sắc đành đòi tài đành họa hai 17 CAPITAL FOR PERSON The capital People living in the capital HOUSE FOR PERSON The house People living in the house COURT FOR PERSON The court People in charge in the court 4.4 PRAGMATIC FEATURES Rằng : Năm Gia-Tĩnh triều Minh Bốn phương phẳng lặng Một nhà sum họp trúc mai Càng sâu nghĩa bể dài tình sơng Phủ đường nghe thoảng vào tai Động lòng lại gạn đến niềm riêng tây AND FUNCTIONS OF METONYMY 4.4.1 The Information Status of Metonymic Expressions a When the entity in the source domain is more specific (97) Lạ cho sóng khuynh thành Làm cho đổ quán xiêu đình chơi (1301-1302) b When the entity is the source domain is less specific (103) Kiệu hoa đâu đến Quản huyền đâu giục người sinh ly (779-780) 4.5 VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF METONYMIC EXPRESSIONS BY HUYNH SANH THONG AND MICHAEL COUNSELL 4.5.1 The Translation By Huynh Sanh Thong a Reproducing the Same Entity in the TL (106) Rằng Năm Gia-Tĩnh triều Minh Bốn phương phẳng lặng hai kinh vững vàng (9-10) 18 Under the Chia-ching when Ming held sway all lived at peace-both capitals stood strong [44, p.3] b Replacing the entity in The SL with a Standard TL entity (112) Thời trân thức thức sẵn bày Gót sen thoăn dạo mái tường (377-378) She set out fare in season, treats galore Then toward the wall she bent her nimble steps [44, p.21] c Using the referent that the entity in the SL refers to (119) Rằng Năm Gia-Tĩnh triều Minh Bốn phương phẳng lặng hai kinh vững vàng (9-10) Under the Chia-ching when Ming held sway all lived at peace-both capitals stood strong [44, p.3] d Deletion part of the entity in SL (123) Lạ bỉ sắc tư phong Trời xanh quen thói má hồng đánh ghen (6-7) It is so strange that losses balance gains? Blue Heaven’s wont to strike a rose from spite [44, p.3] e Converting into Sense in The TL (125) Tóc tơ vặn tấc lòng Trăm năm tạc chữ đồng đến xương (451-452)